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Chapter 18




Just as Min Ha-rin was filled with an extreme sense of loss, a new energy seemed to fill the void within her.
Mana.
Woowoong-
Her Danjeon was changed to a Mana Room, and mana began filling it.
‘How is this possible?’
Min Ha-rin’s expression became complicated. She felt like something crazy had just happened within her body.
It was at that time that Lukas spoke.
“The first step is complete, so you can relax.”
“Puha…”
It was only then when Min Ha-rin let out the breath that she had been holding.
Lukas held out a towel to her.
That was when she realised that her entire body was covered in sweat.
“Because all of your ki has been released, you will feel temporary exhaustion. You feel like you have no strength in your body, don’t you?”
“Yes.”
“There will be no problems, so you don’t need to be afraid.”
“Thank you.”
As he looked at her wiping herself with the dry towel, Lukas said.
“I checked your body. Your blood vessels are very clean. I can see just how seriously you were with your swordsmanship.”
His words made Min Ha-rin so embarrassed that she ended up rubbing a spot that she’d already cleaned.
“…you could tell?”
“Right. There is still some residue left, but that won’t be a problem. We’ll take a ten-minute break before moving on to step two.”
“Step 2…?”
“I will be removing the impurities in your blood vessels, organs, muscles, and skeleton. It will increase the speed with which you can use your mana.”
She had an ominous feeling when she heard the word impurities, but she didn’t have the time to think too deeply about it.
After about ten minutes, she sat with her back to Lukas once again.
Lukas placed the basin in front of her before saying.
“This will hurt a bit.”
“Huh? …Hup!”
In that instant, an intense pain seemed to pierce through her spine.
“…!!”
Min Ha-rin clenched her jaws tightly. Nevertheless, she was unable to keep her groans of pain from leaking out.
An electric current seemed to run through her body, starting with her head. It was like she was being pricked by thousands of needles.
Tears flowed from her eyes.
But what happened next was the most shocking.
“U-, urk…!”
It felt like something was stuck in her throat. Like a lump was moving up her oesophagus.
“Blech!”
She couldn’t hold it in, and she ended up vomiting it out.
Then, a foul-smelling black lump fell into the basin in front of her.
Lukas looked down at it and said.
“It smells very bad… so it seems you spat out most of the impurities. It’s also just a small amount, which means your body was clean just like I expected. This might end sooner than I thought.”
Min Ha-rin looked at the black mass in the basin with a mixture of horror and disgust. It was so disgusting that it made her nauseous.
“Th-, this… came from inside of me?”
“Why are you asking that when you spat it out yourself?”
Lukas then looked over at Min Ha-rin before continuing.
“Your front teeth are black. It doesn’t look very good, so you should rinse your mouth.”
“…!”
Min Ha-rin was startled for a moment before roughly grabbing the plastic water bottle that Lukas was holding out for her.
Then she quickly rinsed her mouth with the water before looking at Lukas with resentful eyes.
“…Master, have you ever heard that you are very inconsiderate?”
“I’ve heard it countless times before, but I don’t understand it. Do you think so as well?”
“…”
How could he say that in such a surprised tone? Did he have no self-awareness at all?
Min Ha-rin was speechless.
Lukas continued with an expression showing that he didn’t understand.
“In the first place, the impurities would have come out of every orifice in your body. Not just your mouth but your eyes, nose, ears, and pores. I adjusted it so that you would only need to spit them from your mouth. I even prepared a basin and water for you in advance. I think that is very considerate.”
That wasn’t the problem.
Min Ha-rin held back the words that she wanted to say.
“…I think so too. Thank you for your consideration, Master.”
While thinking that it would take some time to decipher her new Master’s personality, she once again put the water bottle to her lips.
* * *
Red Mafia.
It was the name of a Russian criminal organisation. Civilisation declined, the population dropped sharply to less than one billion, and the territory through which humans could move freely fell to less than half, but criminal organisations like this one didn’t disappear.
Instead, it could be said that this era was one of surging prosperity for them.
For the Red Mafia, the 2000s could be called a nightmare. Due to the aggressive policies put in place by the party, criminal organisations in Russia were virtually on the verge of annihilation and the remaining forces who barely managed to save themselves were forced to flee abroad.
It wouldn’t be enough to say that it was their most miserable moment, but somehow, they were able to keep their name.
Then, the world had been turned upside down, and it basically reached a state close to anarchy.
It was then when Russia’s underworld had a splendid resurrection.
The Red Mafia quickly gained power and became a group that was several times larger and scarier than in its heyday.
Even if they were to openly act as black market traders in a residential area in a major city in Russia, they wouldn’t have to worry about any inspections.
This couldn’t be helped.
The Hunter Association was practically acting in the capacity of the world government. Their main enemies were the Demons, not the mafia. And they were extremely understaffed.
They didn’t have the means to restrain the various activities of the organisation.
That was why the young boss of the organisation, Vaches Bondarenko, was quite pleased that he could live in this era.
“Are you serious?”
Vaches couldn’t help but ask again.
He was staring at the man in front of him with suspicious eyes.
“Have I ever messed around when making a deal?”
The man in the suit shrugged as he said this.
Vaches laughed.
“…of course not. Ah, by the way, I had a nightmare that I was burnt to death last night.”
“They say that dreams usually mean the opposite.”
“Kikiki. That’s right.”
Vaches chuckled.
“I’ll accept it. Kidnapping a single man is not a problem.”
“Thanks. The reward will be twice as high as last time.”
Vaches’ eyes widened at those words.
“Twice as last time…? That’s 10 million dollars…”
“What? Is it not enough?”
“No way.”
Vaches shook his head.
It was enough; in fact, it was too much. Asking for more would just be greedy.
“You said it yourself, so I won’t give you a single cent more. Don’t come crying to me later.”
“Of course.”
The dollar was the only currency in the world that had maintained its original value.
The North American continent across the sea was called Paradise. A place where one could live a life that was only dreamt about. It was the only place on the planet that the word peace could still be used to describe.
That was why the dollar had become the common currency of the world or, to be precise, the only currency.
Of course, because of the situation, the value of money was not the same as it used to be, but 10 million was still a sizable sum.
When the suited man left, Vaches’ right hand man approached him.
“This is a big deal. Kidnapping one person for 10 million.”
“Don’t let your guard down. There is little information on him, so he might be more important than we think.”
After saying that, Vaches laughed.
“Of course. If he really was a big shot, there is no way we wouldn’t know about him.”
“Kuku. Where is he now?”
“In the European Branch of the Hunters Association. In other words, right below this city.”
The fact that the European Branch of the association was beneath the city was an open secret of which almost all of the city’s residents were aware.
The man frowned at Vaches’ words.
“Is he a hunter?”
“He’s not.”
“Hmm. I’m glad to hear that, but… How did that man know that the target is in the European branch headquarters?”
Vaches responded nonchalantly to his subordinate’s words.
“That’s nothing. That guy is a European hunter who works in the headquarters.”
“Ah…!”
“In any case, the information is clear, so memorise the target’s face.”
The other members of the organisation who came into the room looked down at the blurry image on the table. It looked like they had cut a clip from CCTV footage or taken the image with a hidden camera.
Nevertheless, it wasn’t hard for them to grasp the general characteristic and approximate features of the man in the image.
“His name is Lukas. We’re going to grab him whenever he comes into the city, so stay alert.”
One of the subordinates looked at the picture and grinned.
“It would be lucky for us if he came as late as possible.”
“You have to be polite. That’s a $10 million body. If he’s obedient, we can end this without hurting him.”
Vaches lit a cigarette and grinned.
“As long as he’s obedient.”